Currently, South Korea relies on coal for about 40% of its electricity generation, and renewable energy accounts for less than 6%.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has declared that the country will become carbon neutral by 2050, bringing it in line with other major economies.
In a political speech at the national assembly on Wednesday, Moon said that South Korea, one of the world’s most fossil-fuel-dependent economies, will “actively respond” to the climate emergency “with the international community and achieve carbon neutrality. by 2050 “.
He vowed to end his dependence on coal and replace it with renewable energy as part of his Green New Deal, a multi-million dollar plan to invest in green infrastructure, clean energy and electric vehicles.
Moon’s announcement is in line with a proposal made by his ruling party ahead of the April national assembly elections.
Activists welcomed Moon’s announcement, but warned that South Korea, the world’s seventh largest emitter of carbon dioxide in 2017, according to the International Energy Agency, would have to transform its energy policy in order to have a chance of achieving the zero emission milestone.
“South Korea is finally one step closer to aligning itself with the reduction path consistent with the goals of the Paris climate agreement,” said Joojin Kim, managing director of Seoul-based NGO Solutions for Our Climate, in a statement. .
“However, much remains to be done for this statement to be truly meaningful. The most urgent tasks are to improve its emissions reduction target by 2030, present a clear roadmap to phase out coal by 2030 and completely stop financing coal.
Jude Lee of Greenpeace East Asia said Moon’s promise was “another important step forward. We hope that this important commitment will lead the Korean industry to rapidly switch from fossil fuels to a 100% renewable energy based system. “
South Korea relies on coal for about 40% of its electricity generation, and renewables account for less than 6%. It still has seven coal power units under construction. It is also one of the top three public funders of coal power projects abroad, primarily in Asia, Solutions for Our Climate said.
The country will strive to achieve net zero emissions “without fundamental changes in energy policy,” Kim said. “South Korea must immediately stop construction of new coal power plants and begin replacing the existing coal fleet with renewable energy.”
According to the report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), South Korea ranked fourth among the largest coal importers after China, India and Japan.
Considering the size of the domestic market, it would be fair to say that South Korea relies more on imported coal compared to its giant-sized neighboring economies such as China and Japan. In 2017, South Korea’s primary energy consumption was composed as follows: 44% from oil (and other liquids), 29% from coal, 14% from natural gas, 11% from nuclear energy and 2% from sources renewable.
South Korea’s energy consumption is primarily dependent on imports, and its coal imports have recently increased as domestic production has declined. Australia and Indonesia are the two largest sources of coal imported to South Korea: 33% of South Korea’s total coal imports were from Australia and 28% from Indonesia, respectively, in 2017. Russia, Canada, and South Africa are other important sources.
Coal consumption in South Korea is mainly used for industrial production and power generation: 60% of coal consumption is used for power generation in thermal power plants and 39% for industrial purposes. Power generation from coal has been increasing gradually over time: in 2017, 52.4% of the energy produced in South Korea came from coal-fired power plants, while 33.5% from nuclear energy , 11.4% from LNG and 1.6% from hydroelectric energy.